'Old and haggard'? J.Lo's People magazine controversy

The cover of this week's People magazine features Jennifer Lopez squatting down in jeans and a soft sweater, her straw-straight hair surrounding blazing-white teeth bared in a wide, almost predatory smile. The headline declares, "I have no regrets!" but her eyes appear to say, "Yes, I'm dressed like a suburban mom, but I will cut you if you get in my way."

It was an odd choice for the cover story, especially one seemingly designed to eclipse Mariah Carey's debut in J.Lo's vacated judging spot on "American Idol." And word is, Lopez wasn't happy with the pic and felt it aged her.

"Her camp feels she looks old and haggard," a Lopez source tells the New York Post. Word is, her people contacted the mag to kvetch about the photo, which they felt made her look more than a little like 70-year-old fashion designer Betsey Johnson.

(Then again, one could do worse than be compared to the fabulous Johnson. Also, couldn't these pals just say, "You look terrific!" and move on? Yeesh.)

Of course, this is the same magazine that paid Jennifer $6 million for the exclusive first shots of her twins, and then proceeded to photograph her frolicking with Marc Anthony while pushing $3,000 British prams.

The official word from Jennifer's people is that they are thrilled with the cover: "Look at the pictures and read the story!" enthuses her manager, Benny Medina. "We worked closely with the editors of People, and we are very pleased with cover photo and the results all around."

In the story, Lopez, 43, gushes about life with her 25-year-old boyfriend, Casper Smart.

"I've come to a place where I'm very comfortable with myself and realize that I deserve something great," she says of dating the ink-stained backup dancer. "For a long time, I didn't have that going on. Now I'm now gonna settle. I deserve something great. That's what I want, and that's what I'm gonna have."

So, does she have something "great"? Click on to see photos of J.Lo and Casper's body language at the Golden Globes ...

The cover of this week's People magazine features Jennifer Lopez squatting down in jeans and a soft sweater, her straw-straight hair surrounding blazing-white teeth bared in a wide, almost predatory smile. The headline declares, "I have no regrets!" but her eyes appear to say, "Yes, I'm dressed like a suburban mom, but I will cut you if you get in my way."

It was an odd choice for the cover story, especially one seemingly designed to eclipse Mariah Carey's debut in J.Lo's vacated judging spot on "American Idol." And word is, Lopez wasn't happy with the pic and felt it aged her.

"Her camp feels she looks old and haggard," a Lopez source tells the New York Post. Word is, her people contacted the mag to kvetch about the photo, which they felt made her look more than a little like 70-year-old fashion designer Betsey Johnson.

(Then again, one could do worse than be compared to the fabulous Johnson. Also, couldn't these pals just say, "You look terrific!" and move on? Yeesh.)

Of course, this is the same magazine that paid Jennifer $6 million for the exclusive first shots of her twins, and then proceeded to photograph her frolicking with Marc Anthony while pushing $3,000 British prams.

The official word from Jennifer's people is that they are thrilled with the cover: "Look at the pictures and read the story!" enthuses her manager, Benny Medina. "We worked closely with the editors of People, and we are very pleased with cover photo and the results all around."

In the story, Lopez, 43, gushes about life with her 25-year-old boyfriend, Casper Smart.

"I've come to a place where I'm very comfortable with myself and realize that I deserve something great," she says of dating the ink-stained backup dancer. "For a long time, I didn't have that going on. Now I'm now gonna settle. I deserve something great. That's what I want, and that's what I'm gonna have."

So, does she have something "great"? Click on to see photos of J.Lo and Casper's body language at the Golden Globes ...